Hampton's Tense Race

Mayor Eason Ready To Give A Good Fight

April 26, 1992|By DAVID LERMAN Daily Press

By all accounts, Eason has a keen understanding of city finances, a grasp that was first honed as an accountant, when he audited the city books in the mid-1970s. He is a masterful number-cruncher who can easily recite budget figures and economic data. He takes pride in his revamping of the city's finances, including the creation of an economic development fund, which was designed to assure that the city does not become dependent on money from the sale of land or other assets to balance its budget.

Of all his endeavors, Eason is most closely associated with - and most heavily criticized for - his efforts to rebuild downtown. Opponents charge that the city's willingness to invest in public-private partnerships is too risky, and has come at the expense of services as basic as curbs and gutters.

"The present council has spent more on brick and mortar than they have done for the citizens," said former Mayor Thomas J. Gear, a longtime Eason rival who is seeking a council seat this year. "I just don't understand the way they make business deals. I love the buildings, but are they going to be successful?"

Eason has defended those efforts as prudent investments that help boost the city's commercial base. On the campaign trail, he says that less than 10 percent of the city's bonded debt has gone to downtown projects. He takes particular pride in the opening this month of the new Virginia Air and Space Center, which city officials say is already exceeding attendance projections.

For better or worse, much of Hampton's downtown waterfront bears Eason's imprimatur: the Radisson Hotel, the Harbour Centre office tower, a new courthouse, the new museum complex, three parking garages and new retail space. All have been built since Eason became mayor, and largely at his initiative.

The same spirit of active engagement that made such projects happen has also landed Eason in hot water. He was investigated for possible conflict-of-interest violations several years ago following revelations that his accounting firm worked for the private investors of the city-backed Radisson Hotel.

Eason was never convicted of the charge, but Commonwealth's Attorney Christopher Hutton concluded that Eason exercised "poor judgment" in failing to disclose his client relationship with one of the private developers of the hotel, and for voting on city financing for it. Federal officials, who also helped finance the project, forced Eason's firm to drop the Radisson account.

Today, Eason maintains there was no conflict but says he has become more conscious of the perceptions of conflict that can raise doubts in the public mind. In hindsight, he said, he was too involved in the project "for perception purposes."

"When you want to make something work, there's a tendency to pass the line of what you should be doing as a council member," he once said. "In my mind and heart, I knew there wasn't any conflict. But you're guilty by perception. That was the significance of the Radisson."

More recently, he has been tarnished indirectly by Councilman Baxter E. Simmons' conflict-of-interest charge, concerning money Simmons was trying to secure for a battered women's shelter. Simmons was found innocent, and Eason had no connection to the case, but the mayor voiced concern for Simmons' reputation throughout the investigation, and voted to let the city pay for Simmons' legal expenses. Eason supporters say privately that Simmons' decision to give up his seat this year was a major boost to the mayor's campaign.

Similarly, Eason has stood by Councilwoman Brenda Wharton Taylor, whose re-election campaign has been hounded in recent weeks by reports of her failure to pay city taxes and disclose all real estate interests. While faulting her for not paying her taxes on time, he called Taylor an outstanding resident who became " a victim of something beyond the call of decency."

Eason acknowledged that his association with both Simmons and Taylor will hurt his re-election campaign. But, always the team captain, Eason said he supported them as a matter of principle.

"There are certain values that are very important to me, and loyalty is one. Maintaining my beliefs is more important to me than a political contest."

Since rising from his days as a young accountant and school board vice chairman in the late 1970s, Eason accumulated and has maintained his political support by stitching together a disparate coalition of interests, from conservative business leaders to school teachers and civic activists. He has also enjoyed solid support from much of the black community, who many say helped propel Eason to victory over Gear in 1982.

"I consider him a friend," said Howard V. Booker, president of the Ministers Coalition of Hampton and Vicinity, an umbrella group of black churches. "He comes down in the valley where we are, and he's done a lot of things of help. Whenever there's been an event, he has always been there himself."